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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

I have given up giving up pianos. I've always regretted selling them afterwards. For me, they're more valuable if I keep them. If I sold my FP-7 or gave it away, I'd no longer have a more portable DP, and the money I'd get for it is hardly worth the effort of selling. Plus, I'm going to start up a piano class so having extra instruments allows me to make the class bigger.

When I buy something, it's with the intention of keeping it for life. Yes, it's old-fashioned in today's throw-away culture where everything is obsolete the day after you buy it, but that's the way I was brought up (and I'm very ancient).

Of course, cars break down, even TVs break down eventually and it's not worth the cost of repair. But if you buy something with the intention of 'upgrading' it within two years - or even six months - that's what you'll do. Even if the replacement is no better, just that it has more flashing lights and gaudy paintwork.....

Why not get something that you really want in the first place, and that's up to your requirements, rather than something slightly cheaper but suboptimal, because there will be 'something better next year'?

Because there will always be 'something better' next year. Even if it's just an extra flashing light. Because that's how manufacturers keep themselves in business.

Incidentally, there was a series of programmes in the UK (on BBC TV) which has just finished, about how manufacturers and retailers get us to shop, shop, shop, and buy, buy, buy. By drip-feeding us on why last year's iPhone (or whatever) is sooooo......last year, and why this year's is the must-have for all guillible, er, I mean, discerning people......

"I don't play accurately - anyone can play accurately - but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life."

When I buy something, it's with the intention of keeping it for life. Yes, it's old-fashioned in today's throw-away culture where everything is obsolete the day after you buy it, but that's the way I was brought up (and I'm very ancient).

Of course, cars break down, even TVs break down eventually and it's not worth the cost of repair. But if you buy something with the intention of 'upgrading' it within two years - or even six months - that's what you'll do. Even if the replacement is no better, just that it has more flashing lights and gaudy paintwork.....

Why not get something that you really want in the first place, and that's up to your requirements, rather than something slightly cheaper but suboptimal, because there will be 'something better next year'?

Because there will always be 'something better' next year. Even if it's just an extra flashing light. Because that's how manufacturers keep themselves in business.

Incidentally, there was a series of programmes in the UK (on BBC TV) which has just finished, about how manufacturers and retailers get us to shop, shop, shop, and buy, buy, buy. By drip-feeding us on why last year's iPhone (or whatever) is sooooo......last year, and why this year's is the must-have for all guillible, er, I mean, discerning people......

Since most of our DPs originate in Japan, it may be of interest to hear about Japan's attitude to house building, which makes for an interesting listen. Compared to the West, they have a very "throwaway" culture, and to be seen with something second-hand is almost shameful. They knock down half of all houses within 38 years of their being built. The podcast suggests that this may be one of the major causes of the prolonged economic depression that has gripped the country since the late nineties.

I have a 1997 Yamaha CLP-555 digital grand that I've tried to sell but it needs to be professionally moved but it's only worth about $400. My 92 year old mother enjoys playing it when she stays with me for the week end but not so much lately. It will eventually have to go to make room for either a nice used acoustic or digital upright.

My 1994 yamaha clp154 has served its purpose well...mostly for my non serious fiddling. I would just keep this piano except for my younger daughter...she's going to force an upgrade. She's showing tons of promise, we'll have to see how well she handles competitions.

I have given up giving up pianos. I've always regretted selling them afterwards. For me, they're more valuable if I keep them. If I sold my FP-7 or gave it away, I'd no longer have a more portable DP, and the money I'd get for it is hardly worth the effort of selling. Plus, I'm going to start up a piano class so having extra instruments allows me to make the class bigger.

What would you get if you upgraded?

Probably the devil I know. It'll have a better keyboard some day soon. . .

Well I have sold keyboards like the p95 or a casio synth, but I still keep for instance a 20 year old GEM (WX2), which I don't plan to sell. Why? Well if piano sounds have improved a lot over the last 20 years, the speaker systems haven't progressed much, and with midi (it was one of the early keyboards to have midi back in 1993) and the line input I can have very good results with virtual pianos (better than with my Roland, as they are a 20W x 2 and front facing speakers).

Wow, great board!I have fond memories of playing one of these years ago!Was it really 20 years ago?!

Cheers,Jamesx

Well don't remember exactly the year I bought it, but it was either 1994 or 1995 (the keyboard says 1993 when you start it). I remember choosing it over a Roland E70... Quite a board for the time this GEM, still have the floppy disks with the karaoke... I remember lot's of people used it for gigging back then...

My last DP was a Yamaha PF 100 Clavinova stage piano, which I owned for 20 years.Loved it. The pressure pads were shot and some were giving maximum volume even when played gently. I didn't know where to get new pads. Even if i did know, they probably would have costed more than what the DP was worth.

So I gave it my Son's ex primary school. I promised to try and repair it for them after the summer, when I'm less busy.

I'm a professional musician, gigging 6 nights a week and needed a new one immediately.

So I got myself an MP11.

Having played the Yamaha for 20 years, it was difficult at first adjusting to the Kawai sound. But I've made my peace with this new board now. It just needed a bit of time to get used to. Plus the great tips I received on this forum.

Juno Gi 2011-Current (I like it and it serves as a midi/sometimes usb audio interface as well as digital recorder- I don't even want to take it out it is so uniqueKorg Krome 2013 along with SP280- no plans to sell.

I'll keep them up to the point it makes sense to consider something else - but I'll want to make sure I've got some value out of them.

Some products are an almost constant churn of upgrades (smartphones, and similar tech). And digital instruments have a little of that, in that there is constant development and evolution. However, I can see a clear distinction, between "gadget" and "technology enabled musical instrument".

But all the same, like with many hobbies / pastimes, it can easily fall into that situation where you just throw money at something as a proxy for not actually doing as much as you should.

People convince themselves that a better, more expensive "widget" will make the difference - that it will enhance the experience for them.

I remain unconvinced.

Yes, modern, western economies are predicated on the basis of wanton consumerism. That, and infinite growth are the bubbles, and lies that won't die. That tech is often drip fed, or with built-in obsolesence to encourage an ongoing revenue stream is stark and apparent - all the same, many still get marketed to, and fall under the spell.

For me, personally, a little under a year of returning to the piano after quite a substantial hiatus - I want to see some progress, some return to ability, before I see the current level of instruments I have as a bottleneck.

The money I've currently spent on my digital pianos, has, for me, certainly in recent times, seemed the best money I've ever spent - given it's only been at a moderate level, and I've certainly had plenty of value from it already.

I have an analogy to make with smartphones. And for me, up to now, that's been an iPhone free zone. Same for Android, really, I'm happy with Android on tablets, but I've never yet found an Android phone that persuasive for me. The first revelation I had with a smartphone, would be the Nokia N8. A metal bodied, Carl Zeiss lensed (and with more than just a wink in the direction of sensor size) smartphone, with a true xenon flash. Yes, you could say it's camera was it's party trick, but it pulled a similar stunt with it's sat nav functionality, and other media options at the time.

Not everything was perfect in the garden, though... the OS software was just, well, OK, really, I guess - but if nothing else, is stable, if a bit clunky, by modern comparisons.

I got mine (I've had about 3, one I've given away to family) about 3 years back, and it's actual phone functions, sat nav capabilities, and camera made it an excellent portable gadget. I even got the DAB headset, so it can be used as a DAB radio. Robust, worked well as in-car sat nav (especially as you pre-load maps) and the camera is still truly excellent for a smartphone.

At contract renewal time, I got a new handset a little over a year back. I didnt' want an iPhone, nor an Android handset, and wasn't yet about to buy into Windows phones. So I got a BlackBerry Z10. And it is a very decent smartphone. Not without it's flaws or foibles, but works well. The main thing I like about it, is it works that bit better as a "mini-tablet" when out and about, in terms of browser usage. And I also like that it syncs photos taken (and video, if you have a conducive data plan) with cloud storage, and by merit of BlackBerry's software, can connect back to your home PC (if it's on / up) whilst out and about.

All the same, as an actual phone (ie for taking / making calls) for sat nav, and as a camera (the 3 big things I'm most interested in, from a smartphone), the N8 still comprehensively bests it. Which is why I've still got 2 Nokia N8s I regularly use. The camera software isn't as clever as the Z10, but the lense, and sensor size, take a better, more detailed picture (although there are circumstances where the Z10s improved camera software have their own advantages). And as a sat nav, the N8 is still much better, not least of all, because it isn't necessarily dead in the water without data.

My point being, sometimes there's this era where tech has achieved almost a golden status, where although subsequent developments and innovation help, and improve things, the core things don't really see much improvement. And when you consider things like digital pianos, the questions are always going to be, to what degree do innovations in tech, make it a better instrument, that in playing, the different is apparent and realised.

That's not me saying digital pianos are as good as they really need to get, and anything more / more modern is just incremental revenue gathering - I'm most certainly not saying that. Just that with a lot of tech, there's often infancy (where users / adopters are effectively developing / beta testing the product), early years where it's all just about OK, but a bit immature, a good period where they hit the mark, then continual re-invention. Smartwatches are a good example - a solution looking for a problem, being marketed as how they'll revolutionise, and how they'll enhance, but it's really all about seeding a market for them.